A Royston woman is hoping to encourage people to eat well, waste less and help the environment with her new community group.

Sammy Lewis, a hynobirthing teacher with a young family, has set up the Royston Food Exchange so that people can benefit from perfectly edible items that may otherwise end up in the bin.

The 31-year-old said: “Too often I tip half eaten loafs of bread into the brown bin that could have been someone else’s breakfast for four days.

“Packets of lasagne sheets sit in the cupboard until they are a year or more out of date because I just don’t have the time to make a whole lasagne.

“What a waste. Food is expensive, food is important, and we’ve become a throwaway society.

“I can’t afford to be this way, I don’t want this for my planet, or for my children.”

Sammy always tries to live as ethically and economically as possible, but even more so now she has a young family.

She said: “We’ve had to make a lot of cutbacks, but I also think of the example we’re setting.

“I love schemes like freecycle and upcycling furniture, I’m a member of Royston Recycle group and have furnished most of my house through people’s generosity – or junk – and have helped do the same for others.

“Why not do this with food? Stop throwing away food that someone else could use and instead pass it on, swap it, get something you will use in return, or just give it away, knowing it’ll be used.”

If people want to get involved, they can join the Facebook group Royston Food Exchange and post items – anything goes.

The golden rule is no money is involved, it’s all about freebies and swaps.

If the food is past its use-by date, people are asked to state this in the forum.

It’s not all about finding food at the back of the cupboard, Sammy encourages people to pluck tasty nourishing treats from the earth and share their fruitful finds with the group.

Sammy added: “If you spot a juicy blackberry bush or a fruit tree with ready fruit on public land, feel free to let the group know so we can all enjoy the wild fruits of Royston.”